Structure in General

Usages

Facts

Some of the statue's proportions: her right arm is 42 feet long; the nose measures 4.5 feet to the tip; the mouth is 3 feet wide; and her index finger is 3 feet long.

The seven spikes on the crown represent the seven continents and seven seas of the world.

The base is 65 feet tall, the pedestal is 89 feet tall, and the statue itself is 151 feet and one inch to the tip of the torch.

The statue is supported inside by an innovative metal framework designed by Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the Tour Eiffel.

The torch’s flame was originally fashioned from gilded solid copper until being pierced and internally illuminated.

The climb from the ground to the tower's crown is 354 steps.

The star-shaped base was originally built as the ramparts of Fort Wood in the War of 1812.

The statue welcomes visitors and immigrants arriving in New York by boat, many of them crossing the Atlantic and seeing America for the first time.

Due to security concerns, visitors are no longer able to climb to the crown or the torch.

The external skin is sculpted from around three hundred 0.2 centimetre (0.09 inch) thick hand-hammered copper plates which are fixed to an internal diagonally braced iron frame. The copper skin weighs around 91 tonnes.

The statue was closed to the public after the terrorist attack on New York on September 11, 2001 and opened again in August 2004.

The statue inspired the sonnet "New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus in 1883, in which the statue is ascribed the famous words, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...".

Officially titled "Liberty Lighting the World", the statue was a gift from France commemorating liberty and friendship with the United States of America.